Receptacle-closure.



l E. A. CLAUS.

RECEPTACLE CLOSURE. APPLICATION .FILED MAY 20,`l9I4.y

1,155,90. Patented oet. 5, 1915.

/m/E/vof? Emil v. Clay.;

"\' ATTORNEYS f f rre."-

EMIL A. CLAUS, or NEW Yom, N. lY.

RECEPTACLECLOSURE.

A Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 5, 1915.

Application led May 20, 1914. Serial No. 839,784.

To all whom t may concern.'

Beit known thatr I, EMIL A. CLAUS, a

lcitizen of the United States, and a resident' of the city of New York', borough of Brook-Y lyn, 'countyof Kings, and State of New.

York, have invented a new and Improved Receptacle-Closure, of-v which the 'following is a full, clear, and exact description; f

This invention relates to receptacle closures, and'has reference more .particularly to a so-called bottle cap or stopper some' times known as a crown seal. f

, sition, the body being provided with a bulge More specifically, the invention relates toA a bottle caphaving `abody portion and a depending skirt 'adapted to engage and grip a shoulder .formed in the bottle'adjacentv to the mouth thereof, to secure the cap in pomanually or otherwise displaceable from a normal position and through the inherent redicate corresponding parts in all the views,

siliency. of the material ofthe capcontrolling the position of the skirt with respect to the shoulder of the bottle.

The object of the invention is to providea simple and eicient receptacle closure or bottle cap which can be inexpensively produced,

by means of which a receptacle such as 'a bottle can be securely sealed to preserve the contents thereof, which can be easlly placed in position and as easily released or removed lwithout the use of an instrument of any kind drawings -forming part of this specification,

in which similar characters of reference inand in which#d v Figure 1 is a vertical longitudinal section of the upper portion of a bottle showing an embodiment .of my receptacle closure applied thereto in a locked or sealed position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the closure released. Fig. 3 is a planview of the closure. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectiouof the closure showing the same detached froma bottle, and Fig. 5 is 'a fragmentary vertical section of a-bottle. cl ofsure indicating a disadvantage which-.isfovercome by means of .my invention.

Before proceeding tola more detailed explanation of my invention, it should be understood that'l am aware that a bottle i a body and a dependingskirt comprising separate fingers, the body having a normal bulge whichis manually or yotherwise displaceable and controls' tl 1e locking or' released positions of thelingers. vI have found 1n experimenting Withha device-of this kind,

' closure-is old in thelart which consistsof. 1

that there isa .tendency whenffthe skirt fin' gers are in .llocking positions, for the' inner -sealing disk -of-cork or thelik'e tojbuckle or crumple at the intersections of theffin'gers,

as is shown in Fig. 5. '.Even if this action is only a slight one, it is nevertheless sufficient to destroy the effective sealing ofthe device, and this is particularly disadvantageous in casesvvherethe contents of the receptacle are carbonated or otherwise contain gas under pressure, as for example, certain beverages.A 'To overc`om this difficulty and furthermore to afford a vrocking fulcrum for the fingers in 4their inward and outward movements, l have provided the body .of the device,'as will appear more clearly hereinafter, with annular ribs adjacent to the' 'ski-rt.ij.Theseribs also perform other below. Referring more particularly to the drawings, I have shown, for example, the upper portion of a bottle neck 10 having an external annular projection 11 about the rim' thereof which forms-a shoulder. The 'cap or closure is fashioned from tin, spring steel or other vsuitable material and comprises a body 12 and a downwardlyv extending skirt 13 consisting of a plurality of separated invvardly curved` fingers 14, the extremities 15 what rounded. Located Within the cap is a disk 16 of cork, rubber or other suitable`material 'for forming a tight joint between the cap and the rim of the bottle mouth. The cap, which is of substantially circular form., has a central bulge 17 which normally is-ou'twardly or upwardly disposed, as is `shown in Fig. l. Adjacent to the skirt and near the 'edge ofthelbody the material of the cap is inwardlydisposed to form an annular .beard or rib 18. This rib so arranged :and gpr'ovof which are outwardly. disposed and some- I portioned that w'hen the cap is in place it is located directly above the rim of the bottle mouth. llnwardly of the rib 18 and conceny tric therewith is an outwardly disposed rib 19 and Within the latter and concentrictherewith is a third tho ugh inwardly disposedl rib or bead 20. The arrangement of these ribs is such that the last mentioned one,

when the cap is in position lies within thec., the skirt, are located the two ribs 18- and 19. rll`he rim of the cap, that is, the junction of the skirt and the body is somewhat rounded and like the outwardly disposed rib 19 projects materially beyond the maximum outwardly projection of the bulge 17. The ribs or beads 18, 19 andQO are smoothly rounded in cross-section. The rib 18 forms a rocking fulcrum for the inward and outward movement of the gripping fingers of the skirt. 1t will be understood that in its normal outward position of the bulge 17, the fingers are inwardly pressed against and under the shoulder formed by the projection 11 of the bottle. ln order to release the cap the bulge is forced inwardly manually or. otherwise into the position shown in Fig. 2. rl `his causesthe gripping fingers to spring outwardly or spread so that the cap can be easily released from the bottle neck. The arrangement may be such l that the bulge when forced beyond the normal planeofthe body of the cap will stay in that position, or the arrangement may be such that the bulge will only stay in that position as long as the pressure there'- on is continued and will of its own accord spring back into its normal position shown in F ig. 1.

1t will be seen Athat the two outwardly disposed ribs or beads 18 and Q() serve to grip- .and compress between lthem and against the inner edge 21 of the bottle neck,

wardly pressed aga-inst the inner edge of the bottle opening .and forming a close and effective seal. Furthermore, the -rib 18, which of course is continuous, firmly presses the sealing diskagainst the flat annular surfaceof the end of the bottle neck, and

prevents the Acork or other material from buckling or wrinkling at the junctions of the spring gripping fingersp and thus effectively prevents leakage. 1t will also be noted that as the bulge 17 does not extend upwardly as far as thev rib 19 andthe edge of the cap, it is protected to' a very material extent against accidental release.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is j vA receptacle closure consisting-of a cap having a depending locking skirt adapted to engage a'receptacle, a sealing disk within the cap, .said cap having an inwardly directed bulge when not engaging a receptacle, the circumference of said bulge heilig less than the circumference of the mouth of the receptacle to be engaged by the cap, said cap having an-upwardly directed circular rib surrounding the bulging portion and an inwardly directed rib surrounding the outwardly directed rib, said inwardly directed rib Yconstituting a circular fulcrum for the cap when the same is fitted on' to a receptaclewhereby the skirt is maintained locked to the receptacle and the inwardly directed bulge is reversed into an outwardly directed bulge, whereby the sealing disk is depressed into the mouth of thewreceptacle by the circumference of the bulge, substantially as'and for the purpose set forth.

, 1n testimony whereof l have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

EMIL A. CLAUS. YWitnesses:

JOHN K.' BRACKVOGEL, GEORGE H. EMSLIE. 

